Jazz India Circuit Podcast

In Part 5, host Lakshya Datta talks to New York-based composer and guitarist Shubh Saran about jazz fusion, how he collaborates with musicians from all over the world, and what it's like to perform in India. Having grown up in six different countries, Shubh's music and his influences are global and free of genre. Plus, being an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Shubh's intricate compositions fuse sounds from modern jazz, neo-soul, and rock with classical and contemporary Indian music. This episode features the following songs (all of which are composed and performed by Shubh): "Slip" from his first alnum Hmayra, "Pareidolia" from his second album "H.A.D.D.", "Bloom" featuring vocalist Hannah Sumner, and "Mindfire" featuring Chayan & Smiti.

In Part 4, host Lakshya Datta talks to jazz pianist and owner of The Piano Man Jazz Clubs: Arjun Sagar Gupta. With over 1800 performances curated, Arjun and his team at The Piano Man know all there is to know about the jazz scene in India. In this conversation, you’ll hear about how venues and organizers curate established and upcoming artists from around the world and how they put audiences in the seats night after night. This episode features the following songs: Rhythm Bansal’s cover of Chick Corea’s “Spain", and “Panchajanya” by Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti. 

In Part 3, host Lakshya Datta speaks with jazz drummer and teacher Reuben Narain about the lyrical life of a jazz musician - on and off stage. Lakshya also asks Reuben questions non-musicians have been wondering for ages, such as - where does the music come from? And once it does somehow present itself, how does a musician turn them into different kinds of sounds? This episode features two songs by Reuben’s band Drift the Trio: “Quantime” and “Ten One”. Closing out the episode is a live recording of The Turbans at the Jamboree.

In Part 2, host Lakshya Datta speaks with vocalist Smiti Malik about the women that have defined the voice of jazz and inspired singers and songwriters for decades - Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan... just to name a few. You’ll also hear Smiti talk about what vocalists bring to the music, how she writes lyrics and collaborates with other musicians, and what it’s like to perform jazz classics as well as original music for audiences in India. This episode features the following songs: “The Peacocks” (performed by Smiti Malik and composed by Jimmy Rowles), “You Go to My Head” (performed by Rainer and the Usual Suspects, composed by  J. Fred Coots), “The Fall” (performed and composed by Kitchensink), “Ndinewe” (performed and composed by Monoswezi). 

In Part 1, host Lakshya Datta takes you back a hundred years, to tell you about where jazz came from. Along with us on this musical journey is Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll.in and author of "Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age". Tune in to this episode to find out how jazz went from the clubs of New Orleans in 1910s to the streets of Bihar in 1930s, what drew these musicians to stay in India and collaborate with local musicians, and how Jazz became a political weapon during the Cold War Era. This episode also features a live performance of the song "Hold My Hand" by Fats Waller & His Orchestra from 1938, as well as the song "Penetration" by Dainius Pulauskas Group.